One of the miracles of the Internet is that you can find almost any form of entertainment your heart desires.

At 23, Greg Andrews is of a generation that has grown up with digital entertainment offerings freely available online.

“It is really ridiculous how much is out there and it is not that hard to get to,” said Andrews.

And, he says, online access has led him to spend more money seeing live music.

“The access to music I have been able to get over the past eight years of my life has expanded my musical taste immensely and arguably I have spent more on music because of it — going to live events, which is where artists get a decent share of the ticket sales.”

But while downloading music is now de rigueur, increases in Internet speed and computer power have led to accessing movies on the Internet. And while a lot of people seem to be enjoying films that are still in the theatres, and watching them for free, that is probably illegal under the Copyright Act. So for those content to pay and play by the rules, here’s an introduction to getting movies off the Web, as well as offering some pointers on staying out of trouble.

*

Where can I legally download movies?

BitTorrent is a hugely popular form of peer-to-peer file sharing for everything from music to movies to software, but it comes with no guarantees of protecting you from the dangers of copyright infringement or from malware and other potential threats. There are sites available for Canadian consumers that offer legal, pay movie downloading services, including iTunes, Bell Video Store and others that offer movies for sale or rent.

*

I have just found the newly released movie Taken on the Internet — free! Can I legally download it?

My 14-year-old downloaded Slumdog Millionaire and I got a warning letter from my Internet service provider. What should I do?

Michael Geist, Canada research chair of Internet and e-commerce law at the University of Ottawa, said he gets questions like this regularly. His advice:

“Recipients should understand that this is a notice. While it does not have legal weight, it carries a warning about infringing activities. Recipients do not need to contact the sender, but they may want to consider whether their actions violate the law and whether they want to put a stop to such behaviour. Experience suggests that the majority of people stop the infringements once a notice has been received.”

*

I want to buy movies without getting off the couch and without getting arrested.

There are a number of different ways to achieve this and Theo Horsdal, computer buyer for London Drugs, runs through some of the options:

* You can use Apple TV, at $249 for a 40-gigabyte version and $349 for 160 gigs, legally and hassle-free. Plug it into your widescreen television, high-def or not, navigate through a series of menus much like an iPod, and click to start viewing the movie of your choice. You don’t even need a computer, just a wired or wireless Internet connection that is hooked up to your television. Buy or rent from iTunes.

* Stream digital content — whether it’s your summer vacation video, music or photos —- over your home network to your Xbox or PlayStation3 to show it on your TV. Iomega’s Home Media Network Hard Drive will be available in Canada next month and at $290 it will act as a hard drive to store all your digital content. You just plug it into your network to share files with your gaming console, networked television or other devices.

* You may be able to find it online now, but by next month London Drugs will have LaCie’s LaCinema Classic, a $230 hard-drive device with 500 gigs that you can simply plug into the HDMI port on your television so you can see its digital contents on your TV. Good solution for those who hyperventilate at the suggestion they set up their own network.

gshaw@vancouversun.com

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